Madre Grande 101

Soundtrack: White Stripes - We Are Going To Be Friends

Conclave and the Rise of Ken

It has been a busy time for the Madre Grande Monastery. First of all, Amber and I attended our second annual conclave in the end of June. I remember last year's conclave and how we hiked through the mountain just to get there. Last year's was very eventful since it mostly focused on the absence of John, and how we would all pick up the slack. This year was more business as usual, simply reporting on our projects and reviewing finances.

Mostly what Amber and I had to report was on our San Diego Theosophy study group. It has had some different turns lately since we are no longer using the ULT location. Mostly we are using libraries and a Swedenborgian church, although the good news is we've been having good turn out and we have met some enthusiastic people. Hopefully we will have a more set location down the road.

Promptly after the conclave it was the rise of Ken Campos. I've gotten to know Ken quite well in the last year, and I am glad we were there for his final vows as he became a fully professed monk.

The 101

A short 2 weeks later I was back up to the monastery to enjoy Madre Grande 101. That's the nickname for a program they are running the second weekend of every month to try to orient or reorient friends and well wishers of the monastery as to its daily life and significance. I was helping by being the first participant.

The first night was enjoyable hearing Sally and Marty explain the history. The main bullet point is that a lot of people have loved the land over the years, and it is sacred to many people for many different reasons.

Newfound belief in Christ Bugs

For karma yoga the next day, one of the chores was to help Marty try to persuade this new infestation of bugs in the crops to depart. There were questions as to what kind of bugs they actually were, and Monica offered that in her country of Romania they called them "Christ bugs". This led to a whole conversation as to what miraculous nature these bugs could possibly possess and maybe we should tread carefully. Monica further suggested that perhaps they were Christ bugs because they would forgive us if we tried to get them to leave, and so we were back to work.

I found myself not being able to let go of the phrase "Christ bugs", and I've decided it is a new expletive I will try to incorporate into my vocabulary. It is used in such phrases as "Christ bugs! Someone left the milk out!" or maybe "Christ bugs! There are Christ bugs all over everything!" Much later we found out they are likely Boxelder bugs.

Also during gardening I discovered seashells here and there. I began to collect them. When we were done I finally inquired what they were all about and it was explained to me that many years ago, when John Drais was still with us, he got a 'deal' on a truck full of kelp that they could use as fertilizer. The monastery land smelled for a long time and, as more permanent evidence, seashells that were caught in the seaweed were still spread throughout the garden.

Heart Spring

Another fun jaunt during Madre Grande 101 was that Monica, her son Martin, and I took a trip to the spring. As a bit of trivia, the mountain skyline looks like a woman curled up in fetal position (whom we call the Mother). It was explained to me that a freshwater spring is right where all the greenage is that would be her heart.

Halfway up the trail to find the spring, there sat Jonathan. We did not expect to see Jonathan, but there he was, sitting on a rock. I thought he was going to ask us a series of riddles so that we could pass, but instead he just joined us in going the rest of the way up. Up until now I still don't know why he was there, or what he was waiting for, but it will just have to go down as one of life's little mysteries.

All in all it has been a productive month, and we still have yet to go back to Wheaton for our visit during Summer National Gathering and visiting my family. Looking forward to that very soon.

As an added bonus song about gardening for you to enjoy: THIS!

I took a lot of photos too. Here are the rest of them.

The Outer Guardian ...of Doom

Suggested Soundtrack: Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

I’m nearing a whole year of being in San Diego in pursuit of Theosophical aspirations. I’m certainly not the person I was when I left. For good or bad, as the Oracle says: some bits you lose, some bits you keep.

A new perspective of Ojai

Before talking about the Outer Guardian, Amber and I recently went on another fun trip to Ojai. The primary reason was to see P. Krishna’s lecture on Krishnamurti and Theosophy, but we made a weekend out of it.

This was a time of reminiscing even though I wasn’t intending it to be such. That Amber and I could drive around seeing the sights made me feel much like I did a year ago on our cross country trip. Mostly we just travelled through Oxnard and parts of Ventura County. We drove along the Malibu beaches and through the mountains.

As we were visiting the beaches of Malibu I suddenly recognized that this was close to where Pablo, Michele, and I went to the beach the first time I came to Ojai in 2012. I picked them up from L.A. airport and we took our time driving up the coast. I still have the stone I picked out of the ocean on that trip.

P. Krishna

The lecture was very good. P. Krishna is a widely celebrated author and speaker in both the Theosophical community and the Krishnamurti foundation. If I had to summarize his points I would say: (1) Krishnamurti taught that in order to realize transformational truth, we have to let go of our conditioning which we perceive as our past, and (2) what Krishnamurti teaches is fully compatible with what H.P. Blavatsky teaches and with what Annie Besant teaches.

Lakshmi with P. Krishna

More than just the lecture itself it was nice to be among Theosophists that Amber and I know very well. They are always kind in Krotona and very generous. We got to visit a little with Elena and Pablo Minniti in their home and with other community members in the school.

Outer Guardian

The Outer Guardian, to me, sounds like some stalwart gatekeeper - like the black knight from Monty Python’s Holy Grail, ominously saying phrases like, “None shall pass.” It is an initiation of the Minor Orders of Friarship in the Paracelsian Order. More accurately it is the Minor Order I am currently on.

I really like the system of progress from one stepping stone to the next with Theosophical studies. It helps give focus to the lessons currently being learned. The Minor Orders, progressively, are: Watcher, Outer Guardian, Lector, Inner Guardian, and Acolyte. Each initiation focuses on a different lesson, and as Sally explained in a recent study group, they “initiate” a specific energy in our lives. The Watcher puts great focus on observation and mindfulness. The Outer Guardian puts great emphasis on discernment and judgment.

There is also a cross section of Theosophical principles with each one - Watcher in physical, OG is emotional, Lector is mental, IG is intuitive, and Acolyte is what Theosophists call Atma roughly translating from sanskrit as “One Spirit”. These stages or initiations were put together by several people including John Drais at the formation of the Paracelsian Order and the Johannine Catholic Church.

It just so happens that we decided to have an Outer Guardian study group recently, in some part because Allison and I were having such massive karma play out that it was frightening Amber. That is to say, Amber was considering never taking the Outer Guarding initiation to avoid the juju. I think it was when Allison got bit by a rattlesnake that Amber really felt shaken up.

Like all spiritual pursuits, the initiations are what you make of it. For me and what I make of San Diego, I consider myself profoundly luck to be in the place that I am, and profoundly fortunate to have a wife like Amber to share in my spiritual path.

As for Brutus, even though we are living in San Diego, we found a grassy area in our back alley. Sometimes I go out there with him to read or meditate. I am thankful for him too.

Mostly About Pablo

Soundtrack: Gracias A La Vida by Violetta Parra

The view from my back porch at Krotona

Many of you should know my great enjoyment of visiting Krotona by now. Lately I've been tying up many karmic and everyday loose ends, and at the end of January was another.

The first time I went to Krotona was shortly after the first time I went Madre Grande in 2013. After that trip I was asked to be a part of an experimental Partners Program, in which they pair up burgeoning Theosophists with very esteemed veterans. I have had the pleasure of Tim Boyd and Pablo Sender being my mentors for two years. They have both taught me so much about Theosophy and, I being the mentee, produced a number of projects to present to the attendees at Krotona.

Tim Boyd and Joy Mills

One project that came out of such effort is a book about Tim Boyd coming to know his Theosophical teacher, Bill Lawrence. I interviewed Tim six times, with a total recording time of about six hours. This translated into a 100 page book.

Between you and I, it is still not done yet. I have a graduate degree in Written Communication, and so I thought it would be breeze. I've written articles, and even books on my own, but using another person's story to write from their first-person perspective takes a lot of drafts - especially when its original form is audio recording!

I'll likely post about it when it is done done, but I presented a bound copy of my work in front of my peers. And to be honest, the value so far has not been in whatever product I produce anyway. The story of Bill Lawrence is one that has changed my approach to Theosophy. I don't want to hype it up beyond hyperbole, only to say it's not available, but any story about a young man and his lifelong teacher is profound. And this is about Theosophists, so I'm biased.

The Chronicles of ...Pablo?

It is interesting when you start considering a mentor just as a friend.

Pablo Sender is an internationally recognized presenter and scholar. Even when working at Olcott Headquarters in Wheaton, whenever I had a question on some obscure Theosophical concept I would just ask Pablo. To paint the picture even lazier, Pablo is often working in the award winning Theosophical library in Wheaton, but I would still go there and simply ask him. Who needs to read any reference books when you have a Pablo?

So Pablo and I hung out quite a bit, and I got all nostolgic for Wheaton. I miss all my friends back in Illinois. I know I am where I belong, the universe has spoken again and again in that regard. However I'm sure my astral self flies back to Wheaton in my sleep quite often leaving me to forget all about it in the morning.

So the only solution was to kidnap Pablo and take him back to San Diego with me. Ha! I like to kid around sometimes.

...But I'm completely serious about this. I took him up to the majestic Madre Grande Monastery amidst the singing mountains of Dulzura. Bishop Monica Magiar and Friar Allison Ritter somehow got us all - Pablo, Amber, and I - to sing songs and play instruments as a group with them. I used some wooden frog xylophone thing. This all sounds like a dream scenario as I type it out, but I swear it all happened!

I took Pablo to the San Diego Study Group which I've been spearheading here. I also prepped him on how "San Diego Theosophy" works, which is different than the rest of the world. All different Theosophical organizations are friendly to each other; many members of the TS Adyar will also have membership in ULT or Point Loma for example. However, we actively help each other here.

When I first arrived in San Diego I was looking at Unitarian Churches and libraries to rent space for a TS Adyar group. Ken Small, a Point Loma Theosophist pointed me to the ULT lodge. When I showed up, they were happy to meet me, and offered to let me use their facility for my group.

As such, my group has had better luck in starting up and getting attendees than most startups. It's like cheating, only I'm too focused on the work to stop and feel guilty about it. Lately we've been studying the Mahatma Letters.

Pablo in Lomaland

Me, Amber, Pablo Sender, Ken Small, and Riain Hager

Another fun adventure was going to the old Theosophical Lomaland, which was sold long ago to Nazarene University. I mentioned to Ken Small that we were considering going, and Ken offered to give us a tour - we were joined by my wife Amber and another San Diego Theosophist, Riain Hager. I've had the tour many times, and it is a delightful excursion. I should say, Ken is not some tourguide eccentric, he simply knows a profound amount of inside information about the former Theosophical village since his father grew up there, and is mother was born and raised in the community. I can only imagine what it was like.

It was nice to see other Theosophists get along as immediately and as easily as I do with new people. Ken and Pablo became fast friends. I'm sure we'll all keep in touch in the future. I intentionally did not tell either of them that the both of them have been intensely exploring the H.P. Blavatsky diagram of meditation in order to teach instructional practice to meditation students. Why not, you ask? The conversations were stimulatingly long enough, and I wasn't the only one attending our several hours long luncheon.

I had to give Pablo back eventually, but not before a fun day at Ocean Beach. Even we can't just think about Theosophy all the time. Plus it was January, and I always laugh out loud at the irony of going to the beach in January. Usually no one else gets the joke.

In Memory of John Drais

Today is January 15th, a year later to the day commemorating when John Harlan Drais passed away. John was the founder of Madre Grande Monastery and The Paracelsian Order, as well as often the elected Abbot, and Right Reverend of the Johannine Gnostic Church.

I have spoken before about my feelings of John's passing (here), and there are in fact many people who knew him much better than I did. So much of the spiritual movement in San Diego since the '70s knew John, and he liked having them as guests on the sacred land of Madre Grande. I have only heard a fraction of the tales, and only seen some of the pictures, but that land has been the location of many sacred hippie romps, loving music festivals, and life-changing spiritual ceremonies.

Since his passing, the monks and friars who continue the Order, have built a traditional labyrinth commemorated to John. When building it and dedicating it, friends and students were encouraged to contribute something to the time capsule that is now buried beneath the center space, topped with a heart shaped stone. Many people took the time to pick something meaningful and preserve it for decades. I can't speak for all of them, but I will say there is one copy of The Voice of the Silence sealed away in the stone box. It was a book that was profoundly important to John, as well as many Theosophical students.

A placard is mounted in front of the labyrinth with John's name, the date of his birth and passing, as well as a quote he often said to the monks, "Loving kindness all the time".

This year has also left us saying goodbye to Sunny the dog, friend to everyone who would pet him, and a very good friend to the monks at Madre Grande Monastery. He arrived one day wandering through the mountains and they fed him. After some deliberation he decided to stay, and he was family. How is this different from any of us there?

After learning of Sunny's death I kept having thoughts of John and Sunny together, a lot like in this photo. I know I wasn't the only one; everyone misses both of them and they were good company to each other.

There is a poem that poet laureate Michael Thorsnes wrote of John. I felt it would be fitting to put it here.

http://www.madregrande.org/healing/The_Nail.pdf

THE NAIL

Long before
they were machine-made by the thousands,
each like the other:
identical, indistinguishable,
for all purposes,
nails were crafted by hand,
each unique.

Though function not changed—
the joinder of the two or more substances—
through its uneven surface,
the early nail performed its task
at greater strength,
each ridge
seating itself by character.

Today, from time to time,
albeit rarely,
the smooth, indistinguishable nails
encounter an ancient brother.
John is such a nail,
easily distinguished from the common lot,
not just by appearance,
by function,
by strength,
but by corridors of an insatiable mind,
one yet to find its limit,
able through texture
to bring and hold us together.

A Theosophical Solstice Soiree

Soundtrack: Juventa - Move into the Light

Martin and Susan Leiderman in front of everyone

I have been hearing about Dara Eklund and Nicholas Week's Solstice parties for years. So when given the opportunity to attend this year, I held together a thin veneer of calm amidst my excess of internal excitement when I graciously accepted my invite. It's not an exclusive event or anything, I just wasn't close enough to the Los Angeles area before, and I am easily excitable about any social gathering of Theosophists.

Amber pointed out my geekiness later, but I don't care. I was surrounded by people who had written articles, books, and given lectures about one of the few things that really interest me. They are just people, but I am grateful to them.

Dara, Natividad, Me, and Amber

Just to illustrate my point, at some juncture of the party Dara greeted Amber and I; she took my hands in hers and sincerely said, "Thank you for coming to my home." As if an automatic response, I said in return, "Thank you for Echoes of the Orient, Dara." When my brain figured out what I just said, I did feel a little embarrassed. Luckily for me, there were some people playing music at the time and she didn't hear me clearly, so she smiled and assumed I gave a pat response greeting.

At the beginning of the party everyone sat down facing the front of the porch for a Solstice lecture, which was very well done by Susan Leiderman on the spiritual concept of Nothingness in lieu of the Solstice. Before that, an announcement was made that they had two very special guests who had come from the national headquarters in Wheaton, Il. It was one of those situations where you think to yourself, "They can't be talking about me. But wait, yes, they probably are talking about me." I had worked there for years, and I didn't see anybody else it could be.

They announced Amber and I, and we stood up in front of everyone and thanked them for their welcome. After I sat down, Robert Ellwood leaned over to me and asked, "But you're not still from Wheaton, right? You've been living in San Diego, correct?"

I shrugged and said, "They told me to stand, so I stood. How could I correct them?" He nodded in agreement in typical Robert Ellwood fashion. If I could get Theosophy trading cards, one of them would have Mr. Ellwood doing that reserved grin he does. I joke about it now, but I may need to invent Theosophy trading cards one day. (Update: This grin: robertellwoodbooks.info  See? I'm not making this up.)

A Constant Theosophical Topic

Even though it was such a homey environment, it still felt like a meeting in some ways. Dara made some announcements from her La-Z-Boy for example. She said something that made me a little sad, in that this would be last year she and Nicholas could have the annual party held at her house for health reasons. She also mentioned in passing that she knows many Theosophists have been losing their meeting places, as her group had also lost the capability to fund their gathering place.

I am in a unique place in this, in that I am a young Theosophist who has mostly come in contact with Theosophy at it's major center of business. People at the headquarters mostly focus on processing memberships, library books, printing magazines, and video production. Yet I suspected from my lectures at local lodges that there was an issue of dwindling outreach and interest in Theosophy. It is not exactly like living inside the palace, but it is certainly a different perspective of priorities.

Vic Hao Chin, who I will say would also make an excellent trading card, used to give lectures on how to spread Theosophy and why we should be focusing on it. Popularizing Theosophy or something to that effect. I always found myself hanging on his every word, but some people found his approach abrasive in that it made them feel like missionaries or proselytizers. I look around at this culture of people studying Buddhism, Kabalah, Gnosticism, and I think that this is the time! They are already here! But we don't want to leave our safe buildings and talk to people outside our comfort circle. We want them to come to us.

New Friends

Amber actually had some fun at the party as well. Both my wife and I are reclusive and introverted people in different ways. She gets bored at parties quite easily, for example. For me, I suppose I'm only interested in people who either talk about spirituality or comic books. When I got a plate of food and went to sit down next to Amber she waved me away from the seat next to her.

"Why can't I sit here?" I asked, courteously leaving out the rest of my sentence, which was "...next to the person I am married to!" She said she met a friend. I looked around and saw no one. Was this person named George Glass? Is the person standing here right now, invisible?

She said this person's name is Pattie and she used to live near Chicago like us, and she shares some of the same health ailments that Amber did. "How old are we?" I asked, "You're bonding over griping about your health? We're in our 30's."

I told Amber that she should come meet Martin and Susan Leiderman, who are interested in planning a tour with us to the old Theosophical Krotona location in L.A., possibly with with Stephan Hoeller. That's exciting stuff! I didn't mention that all 3 of those name drops would make excellent trading cards, but it kind of goes without saying.

After I spent my time talking to Nicholas Weeks (trading card) about the San Diego Theosophical Monastary, I returned to my wife and met the very real person, Pattie. Amber was finishing up saying, "...so even though he got scared of commitment since we were only freshman in college, I knew we were meant to be together. Eventually he came to his senses and now we've been married for 7 years."

I politely inquired, "Are you telling a person you just met our entire life's story? Have we even been at this party very long?"

She very accurately pointed out, "You should be glad that I am making friends." She was right. And we all had fun.

The evening concluded with a 3 hour drive back to San Diego with the friends we came with, Ken Small and Phyllis Ryan. Mostly we talked about the best highway route to get back to San Diego, and we joked about the stereotype of Californians ever only talking about the best highway route to get to places. Of course, I could say something about Ken and Phyllis making good Theosophical trading cards but I suppose at this point they are more friends and less like icons to me from these months being in California. Amber and I both think of them as friends by now, and we are lucky for it. So I would definitely get them to sign said trading cards, thus increasing the monetary value. Indeed, that's what friends do.

Here are some pictures of Brutus at Ocean Beach on his birthday, December 6th. Something we would never have thought of doing while back in frozen snow drift land.

 

Krotona, Krotona

Soundtrack: Joe Lutcher - Ojai

I've been in Krotona (a Theosophical school in Ojai) several times this month.

The first time was to meet my current boss in person. When I was moving out to San Diego I had the idea of my ideal job in my mind, something flexible where I could learn more skills online to support my Theosophical work. Through a friend I learned of another Theosophist in San Francisco who was doing network marketing, and could use some freelance help - so that is Nicole! I have been working for her since shortly after I arrived in San Diego.

Kurt Leland and Joy Mills

The second time I drove up to Krotona was to meet up with Kurt Leland, who is a very interesting Theosophist. He and I had been communicating over phone and email, and he helped me with my lecture on kundalini, so when I saw he would be nearby we organized to meet.

A little background about Kurt: He is very much a modern Theosophical mystic. Kurt first had an astral projection experience at the age of 14 years old, and has learned to practice it intentionally since. A lot of his personal spiritual experiences are up on his site kurtleland.com.

I had first learned about Kurt from being at Krotona about 3 years ago. Pablo Sender, Michele Shields, and I had been wandering on campus, especially on top of one of the hills nearby. It was very peaceful. When I told one of the campus residents about our experience she told us that everyone finds that spot peaceful. And in fact a Theosophist from Boston, named Kurt Leland, had clairvoyantly seen a deva (angel) that seemed to dwell in that spot often, to bless the area in a way.

When I met up with Kurt this month, he asked me if I'd like to take a walk with him. The memory of when I first came to Krotona came back to me, but before I could say anything, he explained, "There is a deva here that I like to say hello to everytime I am in the area."

I will say that, once upon a time, I would have been jumping up and down saying, "Hooray! Angel time! We're gonna get some angel souviners!" And, while I will never admit to being either older or wiser, I will say that ever since I've become a Theosophists - I have heard some crazy and verifiable stories about phenomena, and I a have plenty of stories myself. So my actual thought was more like, "Oh good. I would like to say hello to the deva as well."

As we were walking toward the hill, we were talking and Kurt was in mid-sentence, and there was a very particular line that we crossed and he stopped speaking. We kept walking but it felt different. I started laughing because that was just how the mood felt. It was nice.

What does it look like to see a man commune with benevolent spirits? Not like much. He would get quiet and put his hand on the larger older trees from time to time and smile. Then he would smile at me, as if I'd been involved in the conversation that just took place. I didn't mind, everything felt really good, so I was just along for it.

We hung out a few times. He gave me advice when I asked for it, and I told him about the Theosophical monastery, which interested him. He signed some books for me as I left. Good trip.

With Bim and Mel Burckes who ran Far Horizons for roughly 30 years!

The third time I went to Krotona was for the all day Far Horizons board meeting. I was elected again for the board, and I am currently Vice President of said board. It's a mitzvah, in my head, a form of service. I don't know how much I enjoy being in Theosophical politics at this moment, but I love to work for this cause that I believe in. The cause being the Theosophical Movement.

Far Horizons is a wonderful place that has been open to all spiritually minded families and individuals for 60 years. It came closer to closing, for inter-personal reasons, than most people realize. Many worked to save it, including myself, and even though I am new to the area I am working hard for it.

I ran the meeting in the President's absence, and we made good progress. Having the meeting at Krotona really made it feel like we were serving something greater than us, it reminded me of why I'm working so hard. And the smell of the eucalyptus trees on campus always really puts my mind in a calmer state, for some reason.

I look forward to visiting often in the future.

Chronicles of Brutus!

It's called Hoppy Hour. The San Diego House Rabbit Society has recently started to do this massive play date with excessive amounts of rabbits. It's a lot of fun. Ever since our other rabbit, Clover, passed away Brutus sometimes acts bored or lonely so we thought this would be good for him. He was not used to the younger bunnies' energy though. And he's kind of a home body now that he's getting older.

Mostly he just tried to come back to us. There were a couple of bunnies, that didn't socialize as much. But he had a good time. Here is a video!

Thanksgiving

I am grateful to my monastery! Here are some pictures from being with my spiritual family this holiday. I will say that it is a nice change to eat a meal where vegetarianism is just assumed.